Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear: Live Blogs

The New York Times live blog of "The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear" told a detailed objective story about everything that was going on at the rally, from demographics and crowd information to everything that happened on stage. This blog also updated what was happening every few minutes.

The Guardian live blog was also informative and updated every few minutes, but it was done in a non objective way. It did paint a picture of what was happening, but it was more of comedy article than the New York Times version; facts sprinkled with sarcastic jokes and puns.

The Huffington Post live blog was a video blog of the rally. This blog was most concerned with opinions of the people in the crowd. It did show videos of speeches and things that were going on in the rally, but the main concern was the opinions of the people.

All of these blogs were effective to certain interests of people, and I think the New York Times did the best job conveying the story, but they made one big mistake. They posts on the blog were posted in the form of most recent one at the top, which is fine if you are reading it as it is happening, but it is very difficult to read a blog post event backwards. The Guardians format is the "correct" way I am referring to. Post event the live blog needs to be switched to this format. The Huffington Post gave you the option of reading it both ways.

Other than the format the New York Times conveyed the best story because they left the opinions to the reader. They just told what was happening, with not too much bias.

As far as effectiveness in reading the blog live or post event, I think it is equal. Reading the blog during the event can make you feel like you are part of it, but reading it after gives you a lot more information than a one page story on the event or even a five page Time magazine article. Magazines should think about publishing live blogs of events after the events happen.

Harry Reid For Senator

Democrat Harry Reid is the majority senate leader in Nevada. He is in a dead heat battle right now with Republican Sharron Angle.

A lot of people believe that Harry Reid's influence over congress has kept the nuclear waste treatment from going into the Yukka mountain in Nevada, and if he leaves the United States could put the nuclear waste plant there. This is a big issue because the people of Nevada obviously don't want this nuclear waste in their mountains.

Harry Reid's main issue he is using to get votes is creating jobs. His new transmission line is going to create jobs through construction, and then jobs after it is completed; all while improving clean energy.

"Nevada Senator Harry Reid was joined today by Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, as well as many other top energy officials, to break ground for the ON Line, the first phase of a major north-to-south clean power transmission line. The new transmission line -- extending from Idaho to Nevada -- will create jobs in construction and maintenance, help the renewable energy industry expand in Nevada and improve clean energy transmission capacity in the West."

It is going to be a very close race, and the people of Nevada are more concerned than usual.

“Every time I turn on the radio or television they’re saying vote, vote for Reid. I don’t usually vote, but I feel its so important in this election,” said Lisbeth Hurtado, a 29-year-old Las Vegas resident who had just voted for Mr. Reid at the Fay Herron Elementary School in North Las Vegas. Ms. Hurtado recently lost her job as an administrator for an office supply store, and she said two of her cousins and her sister-in-law recently lost their homes to foreclosure. But, she said, she doesn’t blame Mr. Reid for the local economy. Nevada has the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates in the nation.“You can’t blame just one person for all of this,” she said. “He’s trying to make jobs and better opportunities.”

Project 2

"Randy Moss sounded Sunday like a man who realized he's made a mistake. Instead of running routes for a 6-1 football team that has legitimate Super Bowl potential, he is on a sinking Vikings ship that is 2-5 and taking on water. Moss, meanwhile, still hasn't gotten paid, still doesn't have big numbers, and still doesn't feel respected."

At this point I don't think Randy Moss is worried about getting paid or having big numbers. After spending three and a quarter seasons in such an elite organization and then going to such a poorly run one, he realized why Bill Belichik does what he does. Belichik cares only for one thing, and that is winning; and there isn't another coach in the league that knows how to do that like him.

If Moss was catching bombs from Favre and scoring touchdowns he might not have called out Vikings head coach Brad Childress in a post game press conference, but his admiration for Belichik shown in that same rant says it all. The Patriots organization makes it's players feel like they are part of something. Part of something bigger than themselves, making them sacrifice all individual needs creating a true brotherhood. This brotherhood is the formula Belichik has used the past decade to turn fifty three players into one solid machine. And Moss truly misses this. This is from his post game conference:

"..So I kinda know what type of feeling they have right now in the locker room man and I just want to be able to tell the guys that I miss the hell outa them. Every last helmet in that locker room man...Coach Belichik, he gave me an opportunity to be a part of something special and that's something I really ta..take..take to heart. I actually salute coach Belichik and his team for the success they've had before me, during me,and after me."

Translation: "Damn, I wish I was a part of that win with those guys. Coach Belichik gave me an opportunity to be a part of something special, and that's something I really took for granted. I now realize that coach Belichik is the main reason for the success they have because they are still winning without me, and I miss that success."

After listening to that press conference you can tell that Moss truly misses being a Patriot. I don't think he's thinking about catches or money, he's simply thinking about what he called "The team." It might be too late now for Moss to start thinking like a Patriot again. For three seasons he kept his mouth shut and was an exemplary Patriot; at the beginning of this year he lost touch with what it meant to be a Patriot in Belichik's system, and that press conference was Moss telling Belichik, "I truly respect you and I'm sorry for breaking your code."

Watchdogs of Democracy

"Information will just all be basically free, so there's no money to be made in journalism," says de Nevers, an 18-year-old from Portland, Ore. "As much as I would like to pursue my love and all that, I like food, too. And I just don't want to sacrifice it all."

That quote right there is why Journalism is so important. Everything is about making money now, and one of the most important things in a democracy (if you call this a democracy) is questioning the rulers. If there is no one there to investigate and question the government, corporations, capitalism, and just anything in general then what is going to happen to democracy? The small amount of democracy that is even left in this country will be gone. There are so many things happening right now with the way the United States is being run that are wrong and need to be questioned; and the fact that people are worried more about making money than doing what is right worries me.

I believe journalism will never die because there will always be people who question and make other people question what is really going on and if it is right. There is a difference between the news reporting we see on a lot of television and radio programs and newspapers, and actual Journalism. The people who believe Journalism is a dying industry might be right, but not in the sense that they are talking about. Journalism is supposed to be objective, and in a sense anti-government and anti-big business. In this sense Journalism is dying, because it is being controlled by these same institutions that it is supposed to be questioning.

I am going to go as far as to say people should be wanting to go into Journalism rather than not because there is no money it in. Journalism needs to be taken back to the people, for the people. The watchdogs of democracy need to regain that title, so that everyone isn't sucked into the money wanting pushed through our society by capitalism. Journalism can't die, or democracy dies.

Commonalities

All four of these stories (Fear and Loathing Outside Worcester, Yankee Fan Meets Pot-Banger Guy, The Unforgettable Fire Turns 25, and Indifference to Authority) tell a story. They all share a personal experience that happened with someone or something. They all give an introduction to set up the story, and they all use a quote from someone or a verbal interaction with someone (Fear and Loathing Outside Worcester being one with himself). This quote in each of the stories serves the same purpose of bringing the story together.

Each story is told from the eyes of the writer. Unlike some first person stories, in these you actually read the story from their eyes. This is a great strategy to get and keep the attention of the reader. Similar to good movies where the audience forgets they are watching a movie, this style of writing makes you feel like you are experiencing something rather than reading something. It brings out feelings and emotions. That's what good writing is supposed to do. Story telling is one of the best tools of learning, and it is an interesting, artistic type of writing.

History of W.E.B. Du Bois Stairwell Murals

This link to a Umass article gives great insight on the murals from the perspective of the artists. It also gives a slide show of fifteen murals in the stairwell. A good mix of history and culture.


http://umass.edu/umhome/news/articles/41972.html

South Hadley Bullying Blog (Masslive)

First of all I need to already disagree with the enactment of the anti-bullying law. The Massachusetts State Legislature is trying to intervene in something that has been part of human nature since the beginning of time. Something people have tried to change time and time again; but frankly, bullying is a part of growing up. I am not saying that it is okay, I am just questioning the motivations of the law. Bullying will never be stopped, so why not stop the "new age" phenomenon of people killing themselves as a solution. This isn't just in South Hadley. This is and has been happening for a few years now. I just feel like more can be done to prevent people from hurting themselves than from preventing the bullying. I am sympathetic to these situations, but to be brutally honest these suicides would not happen like they are now even twenty or thirty years ago. The new age media has something to do with this, because instead of these "victims" finding ways to deal with the bullying (fighting back, talking to their parents, talking to their siblings, talking to their guidance counselors, ETC.) they are willing to give up their lives to get back at their bullies. This big case in South Hadley justifies that statement entirely. So I think this blog and study is looking at the wrong issue. They should be teaching people how to deal with bullying, and not trying to prevent bullying.